Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A Fun Supper

Last Thursday, my good friend and neighbor, Diane, joined me after work for supper. Steve had a class to attend after work, so he wasn't going to be home until later. So I decided on something easy as Stosh and I had to take "Sweet Pea" to Greenville that afternoon for her monthly checkup from her cancer surgery and radiation treatments. Again, she received a good report! Next month she will have chest x-rays to check her lungs.

So early that morning I again made some turkey salad for sandwiches on homemade bread, and when I got home, I made apple crisp for dessert! We stuffed ourselves, but then we only do this every now and then. We had a nice leisurely dinner and enjoyed an evening of "girl time" and got caught up again on what's going on in the outside world. And, naturally, we had to read some blogs, too! LOL And I also sent a turkey salad sandwich and a big piece of apple crisp home for Steve! Couldn't forget him!!!

Below is a pic of our 4th of July desserts! Lemon Pie, Yummy Chocolate Pie, and Apple Crisp!

Then it was "cat time." I have a mama feral, now spayed, the last one I trapped, March 2007. She still isn't tame, barely lets me touch her, which I try to do every day. She had a rather large, tight mat on her back for some time. I asked my vet about it, and he sold me a couple of Ace tranquilizer pills so I could get her in a carrier and take her in for them to clip it off. I hated to give her a pill like that, as we had used that same medication on our 2 cats when we moved from PA to SC. It was awful! They were like rag dolls! Cats have 3 eyelids, and their inner lids came halfway across their eyes and stayed that way for about 4 or 5 days! They looked drugged the entire time, too! I just didn't like the idea of doing that to this dear little lady cat.

Anyhow, I had been trying to comb this mat a little each day, but this feral didn't appreciate that very much. I was afraid that she would bite me, and I didn't need that. I've had several cat bites, and believe me, they hurt! And once you go to a doctor, then Rabies Control gets involved! So Diane and I discussed the situation and thought maybe I could throw a heavy towel over her and get her by the scruff while Diane ran the clippers to remove the mat. Well, we had quite a time for a few minutes! The cat got out of her pen, right through our legs, as I always leave the bottom pen door open. I have one of those tall ferret pens that she sleeps in, as she feels safe in it. The shelf is at window height, so she can look outside whenever she so chooses.

We left the room for a few minutes, and when we returned, she was back inside the pen under her little pink litter box lid on the pen's shelf. I use that lid as her little hide-away, as ferals feel safe when they can hide. Anyhow, Diane held the box up while I stuck my left hand in under that lid and shaved away with the clippers! The cat kept moving around, and with each touch of the clippers, the mat became looser and looser! Believe me, the adrenalin kicked in! I could feel my heart pounding like mad!!! Then finally, the entire thing fell off! That little kitty's back just had to feel better! I had to take the chance of being bitten, but....NO bite! That had been bothering me for some time as those mats just grow tighter and tighter and can actually harm their skin from the pulling to the point where they can become painful and the skin infected under it! I am so glad it is off!!! She may have a bald spot, but her hair will grow back. These mats are miserable things for a cat! You wouldn't believe how tight the hair grows! I don't think a person could even weave it that tight if one tried! These mats are not a soft clump of hair but a hard mass of tangled, interwoven hair, and they only get worse. They do not grow out, as one would think.

That was our day! The recipes for the apple crisp and yummy chocolate pie will be posted tonight (hopefully) on my recipe blog, Cooking with Nancy. They are so easy to make and yet sooooo good! I served the apple crisp warmed in the microwave and added vanilla ice cream on top! Yummy! Now I just have to get some fresh peaches at Strawberry Hill one of these days and make peach cobbler and peach crisp!!!

16 comments:

Oh, those 4th of July deserts look delicious! I love apple crisp, especially with vanilla ice cream. And girl time is always fun.

Wow, you've really had a time with your feral kitty. But I'm glad you managed to get the mat off her back. All my cats are short hairs, these days, so we don't have that problem, but I had some long haired cats in the past, and they had to be brushed, to keep the hair from matting.

I'm glad you didn't get bitten, Nancy. I've had cat bites myself, a couple of times, and I've had to get a tetanus shot over it, and was on antibiotics! And I'm glad to hear Sweet Pea had a good report.

Your desserts all look yummy! So glad you enjoyed the time with Diane.That was one large chunk of fur the feral kitty had.I have to keep Vincent's long hair well brushed to prevent those. He still gets them on his tummy and he's quite ticklish there. He wants to bat at me 9with claws) when I do that area. Hope you're staying cool. We're absolutely roasting here..hugs

I just bought a thing called a Furminator to use on Dolly, my medium hair kitty. Her undercoat is so dense that she gets mats and a regular comb or brush won't budge them. The furminator works great! It's like a comb but between the teeth it's sharp like a razor. Maybe not that sharp because it doesn't cut me or her, but it cuts through mats and combs out loose hair and the mats at the same time.

Wow Nancy,You're amazing!! I'm so impressed by the committment you feel towards cats. It's so wonderful. And i'm so glad you got the matted hair shaved off. Poor kitty. I hope she warms up to you soon.

Thanks for your comment today. I'm due at the end of November. But I suppose that could mean mid-November or even early December, right? Technically my due date is Nov 28th.

I love the 4th of July desserts. One of my favorites is apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Grandma used to make both the crisp and the ice cream. She had one of those antique ice cream makers that you crank. We kids used to take turns cranking it for her.

Hi Nancy! Thanks for your visit to my blog. Yes, Nancy is my special needs daughter who is 46 years old. I don't know if you read my post on Nancy or not, but if you will scroll down (way down) to where it says READS, under there it will say, more about Nancy her lupus story.

She was diagnosed with lupus in 2003 and it has affected her lungs and blood. She was able to work for years at the sheltered work shop but since she has had lupus she had to retired. She has to have oxygen at night. We have been through chemo twice.

How long have you had lupus? It is such a horrible disease. We think Nancy is doing better and wham she is sick again.

I see you have many beautiful kitty cats!! We love cats too! Kelly, one of my other daughters who is our caregiver also has two cats! Zeke and Myrtle and one dog! Please come back and visit any time!!Blessings, Grams

Well those sure look nummy, I'll be over fork in hand!!Great you got the mat off poor Miss Kitty. I have a Persian that if you turn your back she has a new mat, it is a constant battle to keep her brushed out. One of the Himalayians is the same. Ya know I don't think I spelled that right,lol. It's late.

Don't you just love these "girl's night"?!! hehe My friend June and I do that every once in a while, either go out for dinner and shopping or stay at home and eat while watching a movie:-) That dessert looks soooo good, I love anything with apples.

Oh dear, I'm glad you were able to get that mat of hair off the cat without getting bitten. I grew up always having a cat so I remember well those mats they get and yes, they are very hard!! That stray cat I've been feeding since last winter is finally starting to let me get closer to it but if I reach out to it, then it runs under the steps to hide...at least it stays put and continues eating if I open the door to talk to him! lol Before if he even saw me in the window he'd run away.

About Me

I am a divorced mother of two grown children, a daughter and a son. I work for my son's property management company, homesnearmickey.com, vacation rental homes near Disney World in Florida. I am an avid animal lover, allowing several cats to share my home, or maybe I should say they allow me to share THEIR home.

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THANK YOU, MIDLIFE MOM! MAY "BUDDY" REST IN PEACE.

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Anni of Hootin' Anni has requested that prayers be said for her friends PJ & John who were affected by Hurricane Ike. They'll find out today if they even have a home left! She asks that you take this button and add it to your blog and pass it on for a continual circle of prayer and strength. Thank you so much!

PUNKIN

ROCKY

I MISS MY SIMON

DOB April 2003 (Lost him at 8 mos. of age due to kidney failure. Broke my heart!)

SIMON

Mar. 31, 2003-Dec. 24, 2003

MISS DOLLY AND BUDDY

Ferals now tamed

ROXY

DOB April 2005 (She was my dentist's cat. They had a grandbaby and another on the way, so I brought Roxy home on 4/3/07. She is my shadow as she doesn't let me out of her sight.)

OLIVER

DOB May 2004 (I got him from a girl in PetsMart in Jan. '05. She had a 19-mo. old baby, and her hubby said to get rid of the cat!)

CLEOPATRA (CLEO)

July 1994 - August 1, 2009

DAPHINIA (DAPHY)

DOB July 1994

DUDLEY

DOB March 2001

DUDLEY

DOB March 2001 (when I took him to work with me, as he was bottle fed from Day 1. He refused to nurse his mama.)

TEDDY BEAR

DOB March 2003 (He is just like a teddy bear, too!)

BUTCH

DOB April 2002 (He is my cuddler!)

BUTCH

DOB April 2002 (Nothing but skin & bones when he was found. The vet said he'd been separated from his mother at least a week. He didn't know if he'd make it through the night. But I fed him every 2 hours around the clock, and he's a big boy today!)

CUPCAKE

DOB April 2006 (Stray kitten that was living on my front porch, but she is now living indoors.)

CUPCAKE

Playing through the glass storm door with a couple of my other cats.

I'll keep posting more cat pics as time permits. Cleo and Daphy are sisters (litter mates) and both are diabetic, having to have insulin shots every 12 hours. I had given them away as kittens, and then the gentleman who had them passed away 6 years later, so I took them back, rather than see them go to the shelter and be separated. There are a lot more cat pics to be posted. I may put them in a slide show once I get them altogether!

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TO MY BLOGGING FRIENDS

MY CHILDREN, Tammy and Timmy

TAMMY

TIM

Tim and Tammy

My Family (in earlier years)

My Family (in later years)

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ANN & LYLE, MY COUSINS FROM AZ

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A NEW BLOGGER

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MY WORK ATTIRE

RVing MAMA

OH, OH! I'M IN TROUBLE NOW!

VINCE GILL

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MOM (1923-2004) DAD (1911-1995)

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My Grandma used to say...

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

The time to make friends is before you need them.

Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.

Our duty is not to see through one another, but to see one another through.

Keep your words soft and sweet...you never know when you're going to have to eat them.

Getting back on the right track usually involves getting out of a rut.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things money can't buy.

No matter how much frosting you put on a bad cake, it's still a bad cake.

When there's work to be done, turn up your sleeves, not your nose.

Age is not important unless you're a cheese.

God will lighten your load or strengthen your back.

What should not be heard by little ears should not be said by big mouths.

To understand a man, you must know his memories.

When a man gets too big for his breeches, his hat won't fit, either!

He who stoops to help a child, stands tall.

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.

Instead of pointing a critical finger, try holding out a helping hand.

A real estate bargain is when you get good neighbors.

Cheer up! Birds have bills, too, but they keep singing.

It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

There are no strangers in the world...only friends you haven't met yet.

A halo has to fall only a few inches to become a noose.

Even a bed of roses has thorns.

The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tear.

Oil the gates of success with courtesy.

Home...be it ever so humble. It's no place to grumble.

The trouble with many people in trying times is they quit trying.

Advice is like snow. The softer it falls, the deeper it goes.

A mother's heart is a child's schoolroom.

Children are the living messages we send to a time we won't see.

If you want your dreams to come true, don't oversleep.

People seldom get dizzy from doing good turns.

Experience is what you've got when you're too old to get a job.

Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Remember, a diamond is nothing more than a piece of coal that has been hard pressed for a long time.

Talk is the activity of the mouth. Listening is the activity of the heart.

Happiness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you have.

Elbow grease gives the best polish.

Never return a kindness...pass it on!

Memories are a family album filled with images and dreams.

Instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their place.

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.

Bigger snacks mean bigger slacks.

Good, better, best. Never let it rest til good is better and the better best.

An apology is a good way to have the last word.

You can remember the past, but you can't live in it.

Better late than never, but never late is better.

If you're yearning for the good old days, just turn off the air conditioning.

Nothing...the best thing to buy when you want to save money.

The best gifts are tied with heartstrings.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know when it will be too late.

There are two lasting things we give our children...one is roots, the other is wings.

In the midst of everything, take time to love, laugh and play. Then life will be worth living, each and every day.